Complex UV Layout in Maya
Over the last couple of years UV layout in Maya has changed for the better. In this course we're going to be taking a look at some of those changes as we UV map an entire character
# 1 16-01-2006 , 10:11 PM
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Ethnic Pot

So, I've decided to quit my job and go to school full time. I'm in the intro to 3d class and the first assignment is to make an ethnic pot. I've decided to try and do a set of canopic jars. I might have a set of 4 human headed jars, but if i have time, i'd rather have a set with all of the 4 deities. I'm supposed to use NURBS for this, so i'm not sure how it's gonna turn out. I've only tried polygons before. The pot is due January 31, but i have a full schedule (22 units) so i dont know how much time i'll have to dedicate to this. These jars come in all kinds of shapes and styles. I think I want to make a set that looks something like these. Unfortunately, i can't find a good set of references for any one set.

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# 2 16-01-2006 , 10:43 PM
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step1

I'm using this site as a dual purpose. I'm required to have some king of running WIP for the class, and for feedback as i go if you'd all be so kind.
I made a reference and revolved a spline for the base.............i think im gonna look for a NURBS head tut. Its a new and very foreign thing for me to work in nurbs and im not sure where to start on a head.

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# 3 18-01-2006 , 07:47 PM
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Hello badtertle,

Wow, a set of four pots in a fairly short amount of time in NURBS, and you have a full load of classes? That's a pretty tall order!

My advice is to do just one pot if your instructor will allow for that (perhaps the human headed one?) and then if time permits, copy, then alter the one into several human headed versions. (perhaps you could go for a canopic set with just Pharohs heads such as Akhenaton, Ramses, Khafre, Seti?) That way you will not be frustrating yourself with a goal that may be too difficult to meet in such a short amount of time. NURBS are as Jay would say "fussy," or at least they can be somewhat difficult or problematic. Of course, this is just my humble opinion.

What method are you using to model your NURBS? Are you lofting between curves drawn in profile? (like this?)
https://www.3drender.com/jbirn/ea/HeadModel.html

Or are you modeling NURBS patches? (like this?)
https://www.3drender.com/ncf/index.html

That will tell you where you will need to begin with the head. In patch modeling you start with the eyes and mouth first and work outwardly from there. I think the first method is probably much easier to learn, patch modeling can be sort of advanced stuff.

I hope this helps! Looking forward to seeing what you come up with!

# 4 19-01-2006 , 08:27 PM
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Thx for the advice Nurbs_girl. I most likely won't attempt any besides the human head. I pretty much have the assignment in the bag with the last photo when i put a texture on it. My teacher also showed me how i could fake it, but i didn't think it looked very good. I just wouldn't be satisfied with myself if i didn't give it a real go. I am very bad at drawing references...i can never get them to be the exact same size. Also, i can't find any good front/side refs of any of the canopic heads. Therefore, my best option is to use these human head refs.

As for method...ive heard of two ways and now three with the lofted profile curves. That way does seem easiest, but i noticed in the tutorial that the end result didnt have edgelooping. That was one of the hardest parts when i did my polygon head.

the other two were the rotated spline from the mouth on the tut here, which had loops around the moth but didnt show how to get them for the eyes.

the best looking option patch modeling because of the easily animatable results............then again, i probably won't animate the jar. I just think it would be funny.

In any case. I think I will start with the profile curves first, just because it looks the easiest.

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# 5 19-01-2006 , 09:42 PM
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HAHAHAHAHAHA well. I didn't really read the tut as much as scan it to get the basic gist. I Made the profile all the way around. I also only used a copy for 2 o the 3 profiles (the other one i just drew again). I saw immediately that this would not work. Trial and error. trial and error. trial and error.

What i learned...only make this kind of profile from the top to the bottom, not all the way around. Make a copy of it and try to keep the cvs in roughly the same y to avoid stretching.

On to try #2

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# 6 19-01-2006 , 10:35 PM
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Whoa! Heh, that's an interesting effect!

I've actually never tried the profile curve method. It just seemed like it might be a bit easier is all.
I patch model for the most part, so I'm curious to see how smoothly this method works out for ya.

# 7 20-01-2006 , 01:44 AM
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I redid the head and it is quite a bit better so far, although there is still loads to do on it. I've been trying to get rid of this stupid middle part for like an hour. The creases are very annoying but i can't seem to get rid of them no matter what i tweak. This would be so much easier in poly......

I also think im doing things very inefficiently. I have a few splines going around in the front, but every time i want to tweak one of them, i have to change the rotation to zero to use an orthographic view. Is there any way to constrain movement of a vertice to always be in a straight line with the others??

Anyways, here is my work today.

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# 8 20-01-2006 , 02:02 AM
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Badtertle, can you please post a wireframe on shaded version of your model?

# 9 20-01-2006 , 06:37 PM
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I haven't done anything more with it yet...i just woke up, but heres a pic of the wire on shaded.

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# 10 20-01-2006 , 11:53 PM
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Hi badtertle,

Sorry for the slow response, I am in the process of packing to leave town this weekend, so unfortunately I won't be around to help out too much over the next couple days.

I think you can use what you have built so far, you will just need to tweak it a bit, even perhaps altering it by hand one CV at a time. One good rule of thumb, perhaps you should place your original model on it's own layer, duplicate it, place the duplication on another layer; that way if you mess up or something doesn't work out quite right, you will have a backup and not have to build model from scratch all over again.

If you are having trouble keeping your CVs in line, turn on hulls/Cvs while in component mode. If the Cvs in question are aligned vertically then use the scale tool to scale them back in line (use the horizontal scale), if they need to be aligned horizontally then use the vertical scale. If you find after scaling that the whole hull moves off, use the rotate tool to move it back into position.

If you think that your geometry is misbehaving, try deleting the history, and possibly rebuild your geometry under "edit Nurbs."

Also, I have included a ref pict for you. You may want to consider cutting the model in half at this point (just like in polys) and work on just one side. (select an isoparm then use detach surface) When you get to a point where you need the other half, just dupicate, group then set -1 in scale to create other side. Then go ahead select both end isoparms and use 'attach'.

I'm sorry if this is confusing , but I have to go, husband is bellowing...

cheers!

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# 11 27-01-2006 , 04:18 PM
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Hi badtertle,

How is your jar coming along?

Post some images if you can so folks can crit your work. user added image

# 12 31-01-2006 , 01:06 AM
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Sorry for not responding sooner. I am at school right now. For some reason this site isnt coming up anymore at my house. Well, my mouse keeps turning off by itself too....in fact my machine in general is pretty screwy. One of my friends is going to help me reformat soon.

In any case, I've had quite an adventure with NURBS so far. I wanted to connect the front and back halves to smooth out that area. I found out that you cant merge two surfaces together. At least not premanently. So i converted to Polys to clean up this guy. Then i tryed to convert back to NURBS, but it turns out that you can't control where the surface edge is put. Maya thought it would be a good idea to place it right on my guys cheek, while also chopping off the top of his head and giving him a little Nurbs tupee (is that how you spell that?)

I tryed to work in SUBDs a little but that was weird as well. I thought that Subds were supposed to have all of the functionality of NURBS and polys combined but thats not the case. There are no isoparms to control, and the Poly mode was hard to see with no shading option.

I probably missed ways to work around all these issues, but the jar is due tomorrow so i just did what i could real quick in polys and converted to subds for a smoother picture.

Im not going to worry about texturing, although i did layout the uvs for the heck of it...maybe ill texture it at a later date. In the meantime i have to set up a simple scene to show my modl off in. I've started this already but i need to finish tomorrow morning when i have the time. Its the inside of a pyramid. Basically im ging to show a corner of a low-ceilinged room with a sarcophogus and 4 of my jars watching over it. Ill see if i can post a pic tonight when i get home. If not, ill bring a pic to school tomorrow to show you the finished work.


What I lack in skill I make up for with enthusiasm.
# 13 31-01-2006 , 07:31 PM
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well, as you can see the model didnt improve that much, but i had to do other projects over the weekend.(two live action shoots) I still need to model the scene completely. I'll have to use the lab at school after my first class today.

The only reason i hate using the lab is because they use PLE. I hate that watermark with a passion. Anyhow this is as good as my jars probably going to get unless i have more time than i think today.

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# 14 31-01-2006 , 07:35 PM
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That's alright, take your time. I know how hectic school can be.

# 15 31-01-2006 , 07:57 PM
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Hey those look alright for a first attempt at NURBS. Just try to tweak it a bit more, but only if you have the time to do so. (which it sounds like you might be cutting it close)

Perhaps you can hide any problem areas with clever shadowing and texture. You also might be able to use the other objects in your scene to overlap or coverup any problematic areas, especially if you are just required to hand in a render.

...but hey, they look like canopic jars to me so you're on the right track. user added image Good job!


I know what you mean about maya PLE; that's a drag.
That's strange that your school is using PLE instead of regular versions of Maya. I think schools usually get a deep discount for licensed versions, don't they? Hmmm. How odd.

Anyways, good luck to you, and hollar if you need more crit!

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